Given the current political climate, Citigroup is exploring ways to cancel its nearly $400 million marketing deal with the New York Mets, sources say. The agreement calls for Citigroup to pay the team roughly $20 million a year over two decades in return for the rights to plaster its name and logo around the arena, dubbed Citi Field, which is largely built and set to open in April. Citigroup, eager to quell the controversy over how lenders are using government bailout money, issued a statement that no Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) capital would be used for the stadium. Still, …

Maybe the Mets should talk to Lee Soon Nam, the director in charge of Kia's overseas marketing. "Sponsorship of sporting events will be an important part of our marketing blitz this year," he tells Seoul bureau chief Moon Ihlwan. Among sporting events Kia is sponsoring are the National Basketball Association, the World Cup soccer tournament and the Asian Games. Its logo was also plastered all over the recently concluded Australian Open tennis championship, and it had three high-profile commercial spots during the Super Bowl pre-game show. The Korean won lost its value against the dollar by almost 26% in …

If marketers could make heroin chic in the Nineties, I suppose they can make the Great Depression seem Romantic in these destitute days, too. At any rate, some are trying, Robert Klara reports. For example, The Order of St. Nick greeting-card company has a card featuring a Dust Bowl farmer and his wife cooking over an open kettle. The caption reads: "William took Martha out to eat for Valentine's Day." Says company founder Andrew Shaffer: "As long as it's approached with humor, even the Great Depression works." Gen-Y clothing chain Forever has several items that could have been …

Mattel was not immune to the worst holiday shopping season in 40 years. Sales of the company's signature Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels toys fell more than 20% compared with the fourth quarter of 2007, leading to a 46% drop in net income for the three months ended Dec. 31 and a 16% drop in its stock price yesterday. Sales were down 6% in the U.S. and 20% in international markets. "The thinking is that adults . . . are going to buy toys for their kids no matter what," Chris White, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities in …

Macy's is laying off 7,000 workers, freezing salaries, paring its quarterly dividend from 13 cents a share to 5 cents and cutting its marketing and advertising spending, according to CEO Terry J. Lundgren. Executive benefits such as merchandise discounts, company cars, company-paid life insurance and financial counseling also will be trimmed. A new management structure in 69 geographic regions will drive inventory decisions, John Eckberg reports. The "My Macy's" approach gives more decision-making to local buyers, who should be more in tune with local preferences for clothing and merchandise. It already has helped drive sales, and …